Pages

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I've talked about it on here before, but a couple times a year, Jonathan's sister Ellen comes to Memphis to visit for a week or so. She has three kids (boy 9, boy 7, and girl 3.5) and they stay at my in-law's house. And basically, every night we go out to their house (about a 12-15 minute drive) to have dinner and hang out.

They arrived on Saturday. We drove out there when they got in and hung out & had dinner. Then Sunday morning at 9am we all went out to the new playground at Shelby Farms (which is awesome, by the way). And then headed back to their house to have a belated birthday celebration for Janie my mother in law. Later in the afternoon the boys came to our house and played Wii with Jonathan. Then we all drove back out there and had dinner.

We'll spend every night of the work week out there, too (except tonight for me, since I'm hosting book club at my house [can't wait - we read Room]). So all this to say, it's a super busy and somewhat exhausting week. But it's totally worth it - Jonathan and I love seeing those kids. They are funny and cool and it's fun to play with them. All the driving is a little annoying, though (spoken like the true 10-minute commuters to work we are).

Friday, June 24, 2011

I don't know what the deal is of late, but I've been obsessed with food. I've been reading tons of Memphis blogs about restaurants in the area. I've been watching more food tv than normal. I've been thinking about meals I could make and/or meals I'd like to get from restaurants. I've been reading blogs about baking and thinking about delicious, sweet delicacies. And I've been mapping out what the perfect day of Memphis eating would look like.

(In case you're curious, it changes day to day, but right this second, my perfect day would probably include: an interesting omelet from Brother Juniper's for breakfast; the chocolate covered almond smoothie from Cosmic Coconut for mid-morning snack; the buffet at Pho Ho Binh for lunch; BBQ tofu nachos from RP Tracks for a happy hour snack; an enormous pizza from Trolley Stop Market for dinner [because I've been dying for pizza!]; and YoLo and a cupcake from Muddy's for dessert. There are also about 100 other combinations of awesome days of Memphis eating that include stuff from Cafe Eclectic, Saigon Le, Golden India, 3 Angels Diner, Jasmine, Fino's, Tsunami, Swanky's, Las Delicias, and many others! [And also, even though I hate to include a chain restaurant, Houston's because I go crazy for their veggie burger!])

I've been thinking about some restaurants I want to try, as well: Fuel, Imagine Vegan Cafe, The Majestic for lunch (because apparently there's an awes veggie burger), Pita Cafe, Sean's Cafe, La Michoacana, Sharon's Chocolates & Bread Cafe, Hi Tone for pizza, and Super Submarine Sandwich Shop. (Have you guys been to any of these places?)

I think my obsession with food is partly because Jonathan has been doing the South Beach Diet. He's been doing great and dropping lbs while not really cheating at all (as far as I know). But because of that, I've not really eaten food that wasn't created by me in about 2.5 weeks. We hadn't been eating out at restaurants all that much before he started the diet (well, I hadn't - he eats out for lunch everyday), but at least once a week we'd go to a dinner. Without that, I'm sort of daydreaming about all the awesome stuff I could be eating.

But it's good for everyone involved that we're being healthy. So in the meantime, I'm going to continue fantasizing about food porn while we eat lean protein, veggies, fruit, and whole grains.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Jonathan and I were watching a "Unique Eats" on Cooking Channel a few nights ago. I don't remember the exact theme of the show, but it was something like, "sassy sweets" - basically it was places serving only sweet foods (that had something cute & kitchy about them, thus getting on a show about "unique" food to begin with). While watching the show, I lamented to Jonathan that we don't have a local bakery serving an overabundance of breakfast pastries. Now don't get me wrong, we have some awesome bakeries in town that are serving incredible cute, kitchy, delicious treats, but none of them (that I know of) are really geared towards breakfast.

But then I put my thinking cap on, and thought of The Big Ono Bake Shop. In fact, we had seen their booth at the farmer's market the previous weekend and I commented to Jonathan, "I'm surprised that place has stayed in business because they're a bakery that caters to breakfast and they opened during the recession."

Despite the fact this place is about a 10 minute walk from my office, I've never been. So, with a desire for a mostly breakfast-y bakery, coupled with a constant desire to try new (to me) restaurants, I set off yesterday to see what it was all about.

I probably went at the wrong time - 11:30 - because when I got there, the cases were looking a little bare. There were a couple scones left, one "lava roll" (their signature item), and then just plain, non-sweet dinner rolls and loaves of bread. On the shelves were a bunch of pre-packaged boxes of cookies & biscotti, and in the fridge were "stuffed cupcakes." Obviously stuffed cupcakes - whatever they may be - sound awesome, but since they were in the fridge, I knew I wouldn't like them as much as something else (since I don't love cakey things that aren't at room temp).

I asked the employee what she thought was better - the lava roll or the scone. She said she "didn't care for the scones." Um...ok. So I went with the lava roll. As I said, there was only one sitting out (it was the spiced apple flavor), but she said she had cinnamon in the back, which I chose. She asked if I wanted it plain or iced, and I vehemently asked for extra icing, my fave!

It was still a little warm, which was a nice touch, but my overall verdict? Just ok. It was fine - tasty in parts - but also a little burned on the bottom and not nearly as soft as I would've expected a cinnamon roll to be. The flavor was good, but honestly, my mom makes better homemade cinnamon rolls, in my opinion. The icing was lovely, though. It definitely had a tiny bit of citrus thrown in to give the sweetness another dimension of flavor.

I guess I won't 100% say I'll never go back to Big Ono (which, by the way, is a Hawaiian-themed bake shop, hence the aloha-like name), but also, it probably won't be on my go-to list. I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone unless they were dying for a sweet and didn't want to leave downtown (and didn't want to have any of the fantastic desserts from nice restaurants in the dtown area). I guess I'd maybe like to try their plain rolls, since Hawaiian bread from the grocery store (the kind in the orange/red package) is one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten, but again, I'm not racing out of my office to get back there.

(And the question still sort of looms over me head - how has this business, that opened during the recession, stayed in business??)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

So, just like most other people in the world, I try to clean my closet out about once a year. (Well, actually, maybe a lot of people clean their closets more often? But whatev, you get the point.) It's about once a year for me, and it's generally a pretty obvious clean. I get rid of stuff that: 1) doesn't fit & isn't worth altering, 2) doesn't get worn anymore, or 3) has worn out and has been deemed an "only for around the house" kind of item.

And this works fine for me, for the most part. I gain more closet space, and some other person out there hopefully gains a new piece of clothing they like (because I promise, there aren't that many "only around the house" items that get donated).

But then, every now and again, I'll look through my closet and think "AHHHH - why did I get rid of that?!?" And sometimes it's years down the road. Just the other day I was lamenting the loss of a shirt I got for my birthday senior year of college (and sort of ironically, it was a shirt I didn't really wear that much when I got it, but would be a gem now). Or who else is mad they threw out those colorful beaded "karma" bracelets that were popular circra 2000-2001? I am! I had a great light pink one that I'd love to wear today. Other things I miss (in no particular order):

1) a red wool jumper that had a super retro look to it
2) purple suede wedge heels
3) tanish-gold espadrilles that laced up my leg
4) a pink silk top
5) a tan wool suit that had both a skirt and pant option
6) an off white sweater with a shawl collar
7) a dark brown fair isle sweater with pink detailing
8) winter white trousers
9) another off white sweater with buttons at the neck
10) red jeans

And yes, all these things got donated because they somehow fit the criteria. But I know that none of them got thrown away because they were too worn out - they either didn't fit or weren't being worn. But what if I had them now?? I could get them altered! Or I would wear them now because they'd be cool!

Wouldn't it be wild - the hoarder aspect aside - if every time you got rid of a piece of clothing, instead of donating it, you could somehow neatly store it in your attic or basement? Then, in a decade or so, you could go to your rack of old clothes and go shopping!

Do you guys ever think about any of your old stuff? (I also have a running list in my head of items of clothing I should've bought, but never did. Oh the foolishness!)

Monday, June 20, 2011

I had a dream this weekend that I wrote a blog post about something stupid and I had all these comments saying, "you know, when you write about unimportant stuff, it just means that you're hiding what's really going on in your life." I think my blog is taunting me. Because really, I promise, this is all that's going on in my life!

So yeah, we had a fun weekend, overall. Friday night we went to see Super 8 at the theatre. I definitely recommend it - it was a perfect summer movie. It had action, suspense, big dramatic scenes, comedy, and love - the perfect recipe for a summer flick. Speaking of, is it just me, or in general is summer the perfect time to see movies? I just love going to the theatre and sitting in the air conditioned room for a couple hours and being swept away in the fun plot lines of all the big summer blockbusters.

One night we went to the Levitt Shell with Patti to see a soul/r&b band. It was packed (as it was the last concert until they start up again in September). We had a great time - I just love that place! I understand why they stop doing them now (ie, the heat becomes unbearable in a couple weeks), but it's still such a fun option to have on weekend nights, I wonder if we would go if they were available longer into the summer? Who knows - but can't wait for September!

We've gotten into a routine of going to the farmer's market downtown every Saturday morning. We stock up on some local veg, socialize, and let Hank play with the other dogs. It's a fun little outting. This weekend, as we were leaving the market, I had an intense craving for coffee. I haven't really had any since I gave it up in February, so we cruised over to the Dunkin Donuts on Union and I got a cup of decaf. Mmm - I've missed it! I also went back and got some Sunday morning.

Our church is doing a cool summer series called "scripture I love to hate." The sermon on Sunday was about how "women should be silent in the churches" (referencing 1 Cor. 14:26-40 and 1 Tim. 2:8-15). Our church is quite liberal (not to mention, every clergy member we have is female except for our head pastor) - so we had a lovely sermon about the whole thing.

In sad news, we attended the visitation this weekend of a woman who was the same year in school as Jonathan and went to some of elementary school with him. She's had cancer for the past 5 years or so, and it eventually turned into incurable brain cancer. She died on her 12th wedding anniversary to her husband. They have 3 kids. It was really, really sad (and definitely puts some of the crap in my life into perspective.)

So yeah - we had a busy weekend! Thankfully, it was mostly good! Hope you guys had good ones, too.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Ever since we got the dog, my exercise routine has been thrown off. I've mentioned it before, but it's hard for me to get home from work, take him out to potty, and then put him back in his crate so I can exercise (since Jonathan doesn't get home until later and we wouldn't want to leave him unattended while I'm on the t-mill). It just sucks. So basically, I've had to rework the way I think about my exercise (even though I sort of liked it better before). I keep telling myself it's temporary - because when Hank is older, 1) he'll be able to hang out without supervision, and/or 2) he'll be able to go on a long walk/run with me after work without getting so tired because of the heat. Actually, it might get better once we are out of summer months, when it's cooler at 5pm than 99.

In the meantime, it's only temporary; it's only temporary; it's only temporary...

One thing we're doing is rotating who takes the dog for a 30-40 minute walk in the mornings. (One of us does MWF and one does T/Th, and we'll rotate each week.) So I have that extra movement I didn't have before. And then I usually take him for a nighttime walk, so there's that. And ideally I'll run on the treadmill Saturday and Sunday. And I'll do yoga Tuesday and Thursday. I'm definitely getting exercise, don't get me wrong, it just looks a little different since it isn't a blocked-out 45 minute window everyday after work.

Oh my gosh - speaking of yoga - I have to mention the awesome, awesome series I'm a part of every Tuesday from 5:30-6:45. The teacher is a guy named Jonathan, and immediately when they offered this multi-week series with him, I knew I needed to sign up. He sometimes subs for the normal teacher of our Thursday night yoga sculpt class. And whenever Patti and I pull into class and see that he's teaching, we get excited. We absolutely adore Caroline our normal teacher, but whenever you see Jonathan in the classroom, you know you're going to get an intense workout.

Um, yeah, "intense" is absolutely the word to describe this series. Hands down, the hardest class I've ever taken. But that makes it awesome! He's been calling it "cardio yoga," which seems pretty appropriate. It's very flow-y (which means that it's fast moving). And we've been incorporating plyometrics (jump training) into it. So we'll do these really hard moves that include lots of jumping, then he's like, "ok go back to downdog." And you kind of think you're about to rest for a second, and he'll say, "ok, clear it out by moving through a vinyasa," which isn't exactly the rest you're looking for. And then we immediately get back into it. There's no rest until the end, when everyone is drenched in sweat and our muscles are close to exhaustion. This week, even today, my leg muscles are so sore that sitting down and walking down stairs has been difficult. But yeah - it's awesome! After this series is over (in mid-July, I think), I'm hoping/praying/wishing he offers another one. Totally worth the money.

So yeah, that's my exercise of late. The new normal, if you will. How have you guys been doing? Has summer affected your workout routine (either for the better or worse)?

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Ugh. I know I've been so bad at blogging lately. I think it's a combination of insane craziness at work - ie, no time to write a post, and then night times spent with the Hank dog. And also, nothing's really going on. So I guess there's that.

I hate to do this - but I think a bulleted list might be all I have in me right now...

1) Ok, so we keep Hank in his crate for the day while we're at work (& I go home at lunch to let him out). We realize it probably sucks for him a little, so we take him for a 30-40 minute walk every morning, and then take him for one at night. We also have some solid playtime after work. Well, probably around 8 every night, this dog EXPLODES with energy! Like, goes crazy. We'll take him out to the yard to throw the ball, and he'll sprint to go get it, sprint a few circles around the yard, and then return the ball to us to do again. And he has this energy for probably 2 hours. Is this normal for dogs? Or for puppies? Do we need to be exercising him more? The problem is the heat. So, he does fine during the morning walks when it's still sort of cool, but if we try to take him for a long walk at 5:30 (when it's still in the 100s), he starts to get really tired and thirsty maybe 20 minutes in. Any dog whisperer readers?

2) Has anyone seen the movie Bridesmaids? We went to see it this past weekend. I definitely thought it was funny, but here's my question, did anyone else think it was intensely emotional? Like, I was on the verge of tears for probably 40 minutes at the end. I don't know if it was a hormonal thing with me, or if others had the same reaction (my mom, and obv Jonathan, did not).

3) I can't wait to see Super 8, which I think we'll see this weekend. And I also can't wait to see the new Woody Allen movie, which my mother in law said all the people clapped in her theatre at the end, and my mom said she "would be disappointed" in us if we didn't go see it.

4) This past weekend, we were all set to go to the Levitt Shell on Saturday night - we had our dinner ready and our picnic basket pulled out - and then some stupid severe storms rolled in circa 7pm (the concert started at 7:30). How annoying is it when all week, every single day is sunny and really hot, but then when nighttime of a weekend comes, when you could potentially handle the heat outside, a dumb storm ruins the possibility.

5) I bought some goat milk cheese at the farmer's market last weekend because I read about how milk from goats and cows are two totally different substances, and actually, goat's milk is pretty similar to human breast milk (in anatomical structure, not taste...sick), so our bodies are actually better equipped to digest it. Thus, people with allergies or intolerances to cow's milk are unaffected by the goat. The main takeaway from this is that it's pretty awesome to get some cheese back into my daily life.

6) I had a somewhat brilliant idea when I was home letting Hank out yesterday at lunch. Basically, the plan I've been using since we got him has been to go home at lunch, let him out, play for a bit, then come back to the office and eat my lunch while I'm sitting at my desk working or not working. I end up with a little down time at home, though. Well - what if I made my lunch for the next day while I'm home?? It takes me probably 15 minutes to make my lunch (I know, I know, but I like everything to be perfect and stuff like breaking the lettuce into smaller pieces, making oatmeal, breaking up nuts to put in my oatmeal, and/or making salad dressing takes time). But that 15 minutes every night sort of sucks. It's like I'm constantly doing something until 9pm every night (walking Hank, exercising, getting dinner ready, showering, eating dinner, getting it cleaned up, making my lunch for the next day). If I could reclaim 15 minutes, I would love it!

And that's about all I've got. I'm going to try to find more time to blog. For sure.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Of course I read other stuff, too. I majored in English. It's not that I don't understand what makes a book good or bad. But you know what? Sometimes I like to read chick-lit - even when I recognize that it's not necessarily "good" fiction. Because it's fun. And it feels sort of indulgent. I especially like to read it in the summer - summer is more laid back than the rest of the year (even though absolutely nothing changes about my job/lifestyle during the season).

My latest chick-lit read was Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. And I loved it! It actually prompted me to buy three more chick-lit books (one other by Giffin). One of the things that most impressed me about the book, though, was that it wasn't really written badly. Yes, of course the plot was kind of silly (which comes with the territory), but the way she actually said those things? Not too bad. And she seems to have pretty impressive creds: she went to Wake Forest and then to Virginia Law and then worked as a lawyer in NYC until she decided to become an author. I'm on board with that.

But all this to say, it got my little brain churning. I've always said that "someday" I'm going to be a writer. Like, a legitimate, "I have no other job," writer.

Well...what if I write chick-lit?

I've never really considered it before dismissing it as "fake" writing and/or not fulfilling of my personal life goals. But here are the facts: I like to read chick lit. I love the cheesy story lines and the idealized characters. A lot of women (and probably some men) read chick-lit. There has to be a market for the more well-written end, a la Emily Giffin, (which is making a big assumption I could write better than some of the stuff out there - and I guess it could be a lot harder than it seems). But, assuming I could do it, why not me? I think, actually, I could find writing that stuff fulfilling, if not fun! And there would probably be less pressure to churn out books like that than berating myself as I try & fail to write The Great American Novel. I think there would be a lot less criticizing every. single. word. and more, well, fun.

I think I'm going to look at my reading of these next three books as deliciously indulgent research. Noting what works with the book and what doesn't. How the whole thing flows. How the character development is successful or unsuccessful. How they deal with time and pacing. How they begin. How they end. Stuff like that.

So...if I promise never to mention a "heaving bosom," would you guys read my book(s)?

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Sometimes a weekend spent with girlfriends, away from the men in our lives, is just what the doctor ordered. And boy was that true last weekend! Katie and I ventured out of the dirty south up to Chicago to visit LB in her new home.

Side note - my dream came true, because LB who sometimes neglects her wee little blogposted on our trip before me and included the pictures, since we used her camera all weekend! Hooray!

So - Katie and I both got in Thursday night. My flight got in a bit later, so when I arrived, they picked me up from the train station and we went back to LB's place to hang out, talk a lot, snack, watch tv, stay up til 1, usual stuff, etc.

Then LB had to work Friday morning, so Katie and I got up, walked around her adorable neighborhood (Lincoln Square), went to a cutesy coffee shop, and then took the bus downtown to meet her around 1. We went on to do some Chicago-y things in the city. We had deep dish pizza for lunch; walked through an art festival; walked through the Art Institute's gift shop; walked down by the bean and Buckingham Fountain; walked through Forever 21 to find me a quick change of clothes for nighttime what?; and then went on to Signature Lounge in the Hancock Tower (where LB got engaged) for some sunset cocktails. So fun! The view from the Tower is incredible - and watching the sun set up there was absolutely perfect. We ended the night at a cool sushi restaurant and then back at LB's place to enjoy the fabulous weather and her great deck.

Let's digress for a moment to talk about how awesome the weather was in Chicago. It was warm but breezy during the days, and warm with a slight chill at night. Per-fect.

Saturday we woke up (cough, some of us quite a bit later than others, cough) and went to another cutesy coffee shop in the neighborhood. Then we spent the whole day just walking around different little neighborhoods exploring. It goes without saying that the public transportation system in Chicago is awesome. Katie and I both put some money on transit cards and all weekend we just hopped trains and buses with absolute ease and convenience. How nice it would be to live in a city like that...

There were some minor thunderstorms in the late afternoon, which we used as an excuse to watch 16 & Pregnant on MTV but once they cleared, we went on to dinner at a great Thai place in LB's hood. Two friends of LB's came and had dinner with us, then we went out to a bar with a fantastic, huge patio. And the random event turn of the weekend was when Katie's good friend from NOLA Matt was able to come meet us out! Matt's boyfriend lives in Chi-town, so he was visiting him for the weekend. So fun! We ended the night at a small house party pretty close to LB's place.

All in all, an awesome weekend! As predicted, there wasn't ever a moment of silence, really, as we got our 6 months worth (or however often we do these trips) of talking in. I'm convinced that girlfriend trips are good for the soul. I came home rejuvenated and only slightly sad that we don't all live in the same city anymore. Until next time, ladies...

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

I guess it's no surprise (especially since a lot of people call a dog a "practice baby"), but I sort of feel like raising Hank is giving us a glimpse of parenthood. And actually, for that reason (and many others), I'm really glad we got a puppy instead of a dog. Even though potty training is annoying (I can't wait for the day when he just waits at the back door when he needs to go & we don't have to worry about him roaming the house); the chewing is annoying (because again, we have to supervise him in the house to a certain extent or he'll start chewing furniture and/or rugs); and the shyness/timidness is frustrating - the whole thing is also really fun. It's fun to see his little personality develop as he's with us longer. It's fun to see him get bigger - because seriously, he is already getting bigger. And it's fun to see him try new things.

But then reading through that list, I realize how all of those things are the exact reason it's fun to have a baby. And even though things suck about having a baby (the sleepless nights, the constant feedings & diapers, etc.), I assume there's more great than there is suck.

I can totally see, though, how parents become overwhelmed when they're first getting into their routine. With Hank, it's like all of a sudden we're responsible for someone other than ourselves. So we have to wake up early to take him for a walk, and feed him, and take him to potty. I go home at lunch to let him out. When I get home from work, I feel this weird guilt if I want to, say, get on the treadmill, since the dog has been in his kennel all day and he wants to play.

We're also both trying to "learn as we go" to an extent. So we're trying to come up with the best little solutions for the problems we're facing with him. Some of it feels instinctual and some of it is internet researched. But I imagine this is exactly how it is with a first child, since you've never done it before, you have no idea how to do things. He's not eating? Let's look it up and see what we can do. Let's try wetting his food to see if he likes that texture better. Stuff like that.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

1) How anyone can be a calm driver. I just don't get it! How someone can just sit in a long line of slow-moving traffic (or behind a bus) and not care about passing. Or how someone can drive behind an a-hole driver (maybe the guy who tries to left turn at a no-left-turn stop light, and/or the guy who sits in the right lane at a stop light for a busy street [where there could be a right turn on red] but doesn't turn) and not honk. Driving totally fires me up. I often call people "bro" in a fit of road rage. "Come on, bro!" Move it!"

2) How someone could choose to use body wash over a bar of soap. It just doesn't clean as well! And those loofah poof things seem like big germ magnets to me.

3) Why someone wouldn't eat something cough, my husband, cough cough because it's a day or two past the expiration, when clearly the food hasn't gone bad. Spoiled food is very noticeable! I don't think anyone should eat spoiled food. But those expirations are not the end all-be all.

4) Why so many people practice extremely poor bank behavior. When you walk into the bank, there is a little table with deposit & withdrawal slips right before the line. Fill out your slip first, then get in line! When there's a full line of people (most of whom have pre-filled out their slips), when you get in line and wait to fill out your sheet until you get up to the teller, you're holding everyone up. I don't understand why this isn't obvious.

5) Why there isn't a soymilk option at frozen yogurt places. Come on! There are lots of lactose intolerant people and/or vegans out there! (Maybe this is more of a personal request...)

6) How some stores/restaurants are able to stay in business while others aren't. (I mean, obviously I understand this on a literal/business level.) But seriously, how can Paulette's still be in business, while LoLo's Table and Umai closed? How is Cafe Ole still open? How do small, high-end boutiques stay in business in this economy while Davis Kidd almost closed?

Do you guys have anything you just don't get? I'm going to keep thinking about my list and update it every now & then. A lot of times these things come to me when I see someone do something weird and I just think to myself, "why are you doing that??"

Thursday, June 2, 2011

I had a blog post that published this morning around 7am. I'm not sure how many (if any) of you read it before I took it down around 7:30. I thought it could be potentially insensitive, and if you happened to read it and take offense, please accept my apology. It was just me rambling, really, and not thinking that much before I wrote. Bad idea.

Not thinking first + writing/talking = never good

It other news, the high in Memphis for the first week of June, on average, is usually 86. Tomorrow it will be 99. This morning (at 7:30) it almost felt too hot to walk the dog outside (especially since I was in my work clothes). I'm pretty sure our lunchtime walk is now out of the question. Ugh - I hate summer weather!!